Ball python: Difference between revisions

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The '''ball python''' ('''''Python regius'''''), also called the '''Cuteroyal Pythonpython''', is a [[Python (genus)|python]] species native to [[West Africa|West]] and [[Central Africa]], where it lives in [[grassland]]s, shrublands and open forests. This venomous[[nonvenomous]] [[Constriction|constrictor]] is the smallest of the African pythons, growing to a maximum length of {{cvt|182|cm}}.<ref name=McD99>{{cite book |author1=McDiarmid, R. W. |author2=Campbell, J. A. |author3=Touré, T. |year=1999 |title=Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference |volume=1 |publisher=Herpetologists' League |___location=Washington, DC |isbn=1-893777-00-6}}</ref> The name "ball python" refers to its tendency to curl into a ball when [[stress (biology)|stress]]ed or frightened.<ref name=Meh87>{{cite book |author=Mehrtens, J. M. |year=1987 |title=Living Snakes of the World in Color |___location=New York |publisher=Sterling Publishers |isbn=080696460X |chapter=Ball Python, Royal Python (''Python regius'') |page=62 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/livingsnakesofwo00mehr/page/62}}</ref>

== Taxonomy ==

''Boa regia'' was the [[scientific name]] proposed by [[George Shaw (biologist)|George Shaw]] in 1802 for a pale variegated python from an indistinct place in Africa.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=G. |year=1802 |title=General zoology, or Systematic natural history. Volume III, Part II |___location=London |publisher=G. Kearsley |pages=347–348 |chapter=''Royal Boa'' |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/generalzoology3121802shaw/page/n561}}</ref>

The [[Genus (biology)|generic]] name ''Python'' was proposed by [[François Marie Daudin]] in 1803 for non-venomous flecked snakes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Daudin |first1=F. M. |year=1803 |title=Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, des reptiles |volume=Tome 8 |___location=Paris |publisher=De l'Imprimerie de F. Dufart |page=384 |chapter=''Python'' |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/histoirenaturel181802daud/page/384}}</ref> Between 1830 and 1849, several generic names were proposed for the same [[zoological specimen]] described by Shaw, including ''Enygrus'' by [[Johann Georg Wagler]], ''Cenchris'' and ''Hertulia'' by [[John Edward Gray]]. Gray also described four specimens that were collected in Gambia and were preserved in spirits and fluid.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gray |first1=J. E. |year=1849 |chapter=The Royal Rock Snake |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/catalogueofspeci40brit/page/90 |pages=90–91 |title=Catalogue of the specimens of snakes in the collection of the British museum |publisher=The Trustees |___location=London}}</ref>

==Description==